Green
Sustainable Design in
Professional Architecture Practice

Why Green?The concept of "going
green" sustainability is both
socially responsible and earth friendly. Integrating
green methods
allows
savings in utility consumption while sustaining human
comfort. These
methods
are not just creating desirable habitation spaces, but
they could
reduce
utility operating costs to zero or even allow building
owners to
harvest
energy for profit. The real value of green design is
that it achieves
ecological harmony between people and their immediate
environment,
while
protecting the planet, improving one's health, and
increasing human
productivity.

It enables building
owners
take advantages of tax incentives in form of
Federal deferred tax
credits while
structure is in service for long term.

It could reduce
insurance rates.

Green dollarsreturn
to you Integrating
green architecture makes dollars and
sense. Our firm has reliable staff who
understand how to return cost
savings to
you quickly from the latest incentive programs
offered by city, county,
state,
federal and utility organizations. There are
programs both for
residential
green buildings and for commercial green
buildings:

Residential
Green Building IncentivesMany incentives are
designed to give
additional local
and state tax credits, along with utility rebates,
should you exceed
the
current requirements for energy efficiency. In
combination, these
credits can
easily amount to thousands of dollars. See Green
Resources for links to
more information.

Commercial
Incentive ProgramsIn 2010, governmental
agencies will begin
requiring
25% more energy efficiency in newly constructed
commercial buildings
over
existing standards, and this requirement will build
incrementally to
80%
efficiency in 2050. With this in mind, there are
multiple incentives
for building
structures whose energy efficiency exceeds current
requirements. The
following
methods can be used to enhance the tax form
179D-Deduction:

a) Energy
Auditing of Existing
Facilities: By
surveying an existing facility, one can
identify potential sources of energy savings by
replacing old,
inefficient
systems with newer technology. Depending on
facility type, size and
use, it
is not unusual for this step alone to cut energy
usage by one-half. For
larger
facilities, this reduction of energy bills could
save tens of thousands
of
dollars per month.

b) Energy Tax
Auditing to
take advantage of Federal Energy Tax Incentive
Programs: Through
2013, providing energy-efficient upgrades for
either new construction
or
renovations can also allow building owners to take
advantage of Federal
tax
deductions that range between $0.60 and $1.80 per
square foot. Our firm
uses
the services of a specialized legal/engineering
tax audit consultant,
certified
and federally licensed to provide this special
auditing service.

c)
Cost
Segregation Tax Methods: When a
building is built
or acquired, the entire structure (shell with
components) can be
depreciated
over a 20-year time period, or depreciation can be
accelerated for the
non-shell components, which typically have shorter
(5-,7-,or 15-year)
usable
lives. This accelerated depreciation typically
results in savings of 8%
to 10%
of the building's construction cost, meaning that a
for a commercial
building
costing $40 million to build, the net present value
of the accelerated
depreciation could be as much as $4 million.

d) Renovation/Abandonment
Study: When
buildings
are renovated to go green, some components are
removed and can no
longer be
used. The net value of these abandoned assets can be
treated as an
expense. You
reap the advantages of Federal and local energy tax
benefits for the
new
components, but you also benefit by writing off the
assets you have
abandoned.
For example, in a $700,000 green renovation in which
you retire
$200,000 worth
of non-green building components, you could write
the $200,000 off as
an expense
in the current year.

Firm History on Energy
ConservationJohn Salat has
always
paid close attention to
environmental issues. During his internship
following the 1973
Emergency Energy
Act, he was personally involved in many energy
conservation projects.
The projects which he worked was cited for honor
in this area, and
received several
prestigious Owens-Corning Awards. The
energy-saving techniques
developed
for
those projects earned much attention from the
industry and are still
used
today. In a moving
technology, our firm receives continuing education
from organizations
on matters of green innovation. Our firm uses these
methods, taking a
holistic, total green
design
approach to projects. Our firm is an active member
of "BUILD IT
GREEN" and certified as a Professional Green
Consultant.